James C. Fraser, Ph.D.

01Appointments

Current Academic Positions

Editorial Appointments

Prior Academic Appointments

02Education

03Congressional Testimony

Fraser, J. C. (2009, July 29). Academic Perspectives on the Future of Public Housing. Invited testimony before the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

04Publications

Edited Books

• Oakley, D., & Fraser, J. (Eds.). (2025). The Performative City: An Approach to the Study of Urban Policy. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.

In Preparation

• Fraser, J., & Addie, J.-P. Organizing for a New Social Horizon: The Over-the-Rhine People's Movement for Equality and Justice (1970–2020).

Manuscripts Under Review

• Fraser, J., & Addie, J.-P. Organizing for a New Social Horizon: The Over-the-Rhine People's Movement, Contagiously Collectively, and the Production of Locality under Racial Capitalism. Annals of the American Association of Geographers.
• Fraser, J., & Oakley, D. The Limits of Cash: Guaranteed Income and the Reproduction of the Precarious City.
• Fraser, J. Unsettling Property: Race, Precarity, and the Politics of Home at Fort Negley, Nashville.
• Fraser, J. After Reparations Washing: Cities, Racial Capitalism, and the Spatial Politics of Repair.
• Fraser, J. Enforcing the Unlivable: The Police Imaginary in the Carceral Geography of Homelessness.

Refereed Journal Articles

1. 44Hightower, C., & Fraser, J. (2020). The Raced-Space of Gentrification: 'Reverse Blockbusting,' Home-selling, and Neighborhood Remake in North Nashville. City & Community.
2. 43Addie, J.-P., & Fraser, J. C. (2019). After Gentrification: Social Mix, Settler Colonialism, and Cruel Optimism in the Transformation of Neighborhood Space. Antipode.
3. 42Carrico, A. R., Raja, U., Fraser, J. C., & Vandenburgh, M. P. (2018). Household and Block Level Influences on Residential Fertilizer Use. Landscape and Urban Planning, 178, 60–68.
4. 41De Vries, D. H., & Fraser, J. C. (2017). Historical Waterscape Trajectories That Need Care: The Unwanted Refurbished Flood Homes of Kinston's Devolved Disaster Mitigation Program. Journal of Political Ecology, 24(1).
5. 40Oakley, D. A., & Fraser, J. C. (2016). U.S. Public-Housing Transformations and the Housing Publics Lost in Transition. City & Community, 15(4), 349–366.
6. 39Fraser, J., Bazuin, J. T., & Hornberger, G. (2016). The Privatization of Neighborhood Governance and the Production of Urban Space. Environment and Planning A, 48(5), 844–870.
7. 38Thurber, A., & Fraser, J. (2016). Disrupting the Order of Things: Public Housing Tenant Organizing for Material, Political, and Epistemological Justice. Cities, 57, 55–61.
8. 37Fraser, J. C., & Oakley, D. (2015). The Neighborhood Stabilization Program: Stable for Whom? Journal of Urban Affairs, 37(1), 38–41.
9. 36Oakley, D., Fraser, J., & Bazuin, J. (2015). The Imagined Self-Sufficient Communities of HOPE VI. Urban Affairs Review, 51(5), 726–746.
10. 35Fraser, J. C., & Kick, E. L. (2014). Governing Urban Restructuring with City-Building Nonprofits. Environment and Planning A, 46(6), 1445–1461.
11. 34Bazuin, J. T., & Fraser, J. C. (2013). How the ACS Gets It Wrong: The Story of the American Community Survey and a Small, Inner-City Neighborhood. Applied Geography, 45, 292–302.
12. 33Fraser, J., Oakley, D., & Levy, D. (2013). Guest Editors' Introduction: Policy Assumptions and Lived Realities of Mixed-Income Housing on Both Sides of the Atlantic. Cityscape, 15(2), 1–14.
13. 32Fraser, J. C., Chaskin, R. J., & Bazuin, J. T. (2013). Making Mixed-Income Neighborhoods Work for Low-Income Households. Cityscape, 83–100.
14. 31Fraser, J. C., Bazuin, J. T., Band, L. E., & Grove, J. M. (2013). Covenants, Cohesion, and Community: The Effects of Neighborhood Governance on Lawn Fertilization. Landscape and Urban Planning, 115, 30–38.
15. 30Fraser, J. C., Burns, A. B., Bazuin, J. T., & Oakley, D. A. (2013). HOPE VI, Colonization, and the Production of Difference. Urban Affairs Review, 49(4), 525–556.
16. 29Kick, E. L., & Fraser, J. C. (2013). Risking It: The Longitudinal and Spatial Characteristics of Flooding. Journal of Medical Safety.
17. 28Carrico, A. R., Fraser, J., & Bazuin, J. T. (2013). Green with Envy: Psychological and Social Predictors of Lawn Fertilizer Application. Environment and Behavior, 45(4), 427–454.
18. 27De Vries, D. H., & Fraser, J. C. (2012). Citizenship Rights and Voluntary Decision Making in Post-Disaster U.S. Floodplain Buyout Mitigation Programs. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 30(1), 1–33.
19. 26Bacon, M. T., & Fraser, J. (2012). Spatial Analysis of Crime in the Evaluation of Public Housing Redevelopment. Crime Mapping, 4(2), 69–85.
20. 25Fraser, J., Oakley, D., & Bazuin, J. (2011). Public Ownership and Private Profit in Housing. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 5(3), 397–412.
21. 24Kick, E. L., Fraser, J. C., Fulkerson, G. M., McKinney, L. A., & De Vries, D. H. (2011). Repetitive Flood Victims and Acceptance of FEMA Mitigation Offers. Disasters, 35(3), 510–539.
22. 23Fraser, J., & Nelson, M. H. (2008). Can Mixed-Income Housing Ameliorate Concentrated Poverty? Geography Compass, 2(6), 2127–2144.
23. 22Fraser, J., & Weninger, C. (2008). Modes of Engagement for Urban Research: Enacting a Politics of Possibility. Environment and Planning A, 40(6), 1435–1453.
24. 21Fraser, J. C., & Kick, E. L. (2007). The Role of Public, Private, Non-Profit, and Community Sectors in Shaping Mixed-Income Housing Outcomes in the U.S. Urban Studies, 44(12), 2357–2377.
25. 20Fraser, J. C. (2006). The Relevance of Human Geography for Studying Urban Disasters. Space and Culture, 9(1), 14–19.
26. 19Fraser, J. C., Doyle, M. W., & Young, H. (2006). Creating Effective Flood Mitigation Policies. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 87(27), 265–270.
27. 18Kick, E. L., Fraser, J. C., & Davis, B. L. (2006). Performance Management, Managerial Citizenship, and Worker Commitment: A Study of the U.S. Postal Service. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 27(1), 137–172.
28. 17Fraser, J., & Kick, E. (2005). Understanding Community Building in Urban America. Journal of Poverty, 9(1), 23–43.
29. 16Fraser, J. C. (2004). Beyond Gentrification: Mobilizing Communities and Claiming Space. Urban Geography, 25(5), 437–457.
30. 15Fraser, J., & Lepofsky, J. (2004). The Uses of Knowledge in Neighbourhood Revitalization. Community Development Journal, 39(1), 4–12.
31. 14Fraser, J. C., Lepofsky, J., Kick, E. L., & Williams, J. P. (2003). The Construction of the Local and the Limits of Contemporary Community Building in the United States. Urban Affairs Review, 38(3), 417–445.
32. 13Lepofsky, J., & Fraser, J. C. (2003). Building Community Citizens: Claiming the Right to Place-Making in the City. Urban Studies, 40(1), 127–142.
33. 12Fraser, J. C., Kick, E. L., & Williams, J. P. (2002). Neighborhood Revitalization and the Practice of Evaluation in the United States. City & Community, 1(2), 223–244.
34. 11Fraser, J., Kick, E., & Barber, K. (2002). Organizational Culture as Contested Ground in an Era of Globalization. Sociological Spectrum, 22(4), 445–471.
35. 10Kick, E. L., & Fraser, J. C. (2000). White Attitudes and Race- and Income-Targeted Policies. Journal of Poverty, 4(3), 43–71.
36. 9Fraser, J., & Kick, E. L. (2000). Interpretive Repertoires of Whites on Race-Targeted Policies. Sociological Perspectives, 43(1), 13–28.
37. 8Fraser, J., & Hodge, M. (2000). Job Satisfaction in Higher Education: Examining Gender in Professional Work Settings. Sociological Inquiry, 70(2), 172–178.
38. 7Wang, L. Y., Kick, E., Fraser, J., & Burns, T. J. (1999). Status Attainment in America: The Roles of Locus of Control and Self-Esteem. Sociological Spectrum, 19(3), 281–298.
39. 6Fraser, J. C., & Perry, M. J. (1998). Building Bridges with the Community. Social Insight, 3(3/4), 9–14.
40. 5Foley, L., & Fraser, J. (1998). A Research Note on Post-Dating Relationships. Sociological Perspectives, 41(1), 209–219.
41. 4Donnelly, D., & Fraser, J. (1998). Gender Differences in Sadomasochistic Arousal among College Students. Sex Roles, 39(5), 391–407.
42. 3Fraser, J. (1997). Developing Definitions of an Adoptee–Birthmother Reunion Relationship. Marriage & Family Review, 25(1–2), 67–78.
43. 2Fraser, J., Davis, P. W., & Singh, R. (1997). Identity Work by Alternative High School Students. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 10(2), 221–236.
44. 1Fraser, J. (1997). Methadone Clinic Culture: The Everyday Realities of Female Methadone Clients. Qualitative Health Research, 7(1), 121–139.

Book Chapters & Reference Works

1. 12Oakley, D., & Fraser, J. (2025). Resistance Was Futile: HOPE VI and the End of Atlanta's Public Housing Tenant Activism. In C. Anderson (Ed.), The Fundamentals of Affordable Housing. ABC-CLIO.
2. 11Davis, T., & Fraser, J. (2025). The Ambitions and Experiences of Black Americans. In D. Oakley (Ed.), Taking Root? Cosmopolitan Perspectives on Migrations (pp. 77–90). Kendall Hunt.
3. 10Oakley, D., & Fraser, J. (2025). Introduction. In The Performative City. Waveland Press.
4. 9Fraser, J., & Oakley, D. (2025). Urban Policy as Spatial Project. In The Performative City. Waveland Press.
5. 8Fraser, J., & Lawlor, K. (2025). The Significance of Twentieth-Century Urban Renewal Policies for Reparative Planning and Racial Reparations. In The Performative City. Waveland Press.
6. 7Oakley, D., & Fraser, J. (2025). Conclusion: Considerations for Policy Studies. In The Performative City. Waveland Press.
7. 6Oakley, D., & Fraser, J. (2018). Urban Empowerment, Disempowerment, and Place-Based Urban Policies. In A. Orum (Ed.), The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. Wiley-Blackwell.
8. 5Oakley, D. A., & Fraser, J. C. (2016). The Obama Administration's Neighborhood Stabilization Program. In Urban Policy in the Age of Obama (pp. 231–245).
9. 4Fraser, J. C., & Oakley, D. A. (2015). Mixed-Income Communities and Poverty Amelioration. In Handbook on Poverty in the United States (pp. 268–274).
10. 3Fraser, J., DeFilippis, J., & Bazuin, J. (2012). HOPE VI: Calling for Modesty in Its Claims. In Mixed Communities: Gentrification by Stealth (pp. 209–229).
11. 2Weninger, C., & Fraser, J. C. (2012). Hybrid Forms of Civic Participation in Neighborhood Redevelopment. In Deliberations in Community Development (pp. 249–264).
12. 1DeFilippis, J., & Fraser, J. (2010). Why Do We Want Mixed-Income Housing and Neighborhoods? In Davies & Imbroscio (Eds.), Critical Urban Studies: New Directions (pp. 135–147). SUNY Press. [Reprinted 2020, Housing Studies Reader, Transcript.]

Book Reviews

• Fraser, J. C. (2006). Globalization, Development, and Ordinary Cities [Review essay]. Journal of World-Systems Research, 12, 189–197.
• Fraser, J. (2022). Review of The Power of Pragmatism, eds. Wills & Lake. Urban Geography.
• Fraser, J. C. (2019). Review of Constructing the Dynamo of Dixie, by C. Knapp. Journal of Planning, Education, and Research.
• Fraser, J. C. (2014). Review of Driven from New Orleans, by J. Arena. Social Service Review, 88, 194–199.
• Fraser, J. C. (2006). Review of Brave New Neighborhoods, by M. Kohn. Contemporary Sociology, 35, 158–159.
• Additional reviews in Urban Land (2001–2002) and American Anthropologist (2001).

Public Scholarship & Op-Eds

• Palmer, A., & Fraser, J. C. (2018). Open Letter to Nashville and Our Next Mayor on Affordable Housing. The Tennessean.
• Diskin, J., Fraser, J. C., & Dutton, T. A. (2017). Tax Those Who've Gained from Public Investment in OTR. Cincinnati.com.
• Fraser, J. C., & Bailey, S. (2016). A Just Nashville Means Community Housing, Not Capitalism. The Tennessean.
• Fraser, J. C., & Thurber, A. (2015). Nashvillians Should Have the Right to Stay Put. The Tennessean.
• Plus additional op-eds in The Tennessean and Cincinnati.com (2015–2017).

Selected Professional Reports

• Fraser, J., Schwartz, D., & Oakley, D. (2024). Thriving, Not Just Surviving: Making Mixed-Income Neighborhoods Work for Low-Income Households. Final Report, POAH Communities.
• Economic & Planning Systems & Fraser, J. C. (2016). Housing Policy and Inclusionary Zoning Feasibility Study. Metro Planning Dept., Nashville.
• Fraser, J. C. (2008). The Processes and Outcomes of the Durham HOPE VI Project. Durham Housing Authority & HUD.
• Fraser, J. C., De Vries, D., & Young, H. (2006). Mitigating Repetitive Loss Properties. FEMA, Washington, D.C.
• 30+ additional commissioned reports for HUD, FEMA, state agencies, and foundations (1993–2024).

05Grants, Contracts & Awards

$12M+ in federal and foundation funding across NSF, HUD, FEMA, NEH, Mellon, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation over a 30-year career.

Under Review

Funded Grants & Contracts

06Invited Presentations

• Fraser, J. C. (2024). Organizing for a New Social Horizon: The People's Movement in Cincinnati. 8th Annual Social Justice Conference, Virginia State University.
• Fraser, J. C. (2018). Understanding the Difference Between Gentrification and Equitable Development. International Economic Development Council, Atlanta.
• Fraser, J. C. (2017). The Making of the Precarious City. Urban Studies Institute, Georgia State University.
• Fraser, J. C. (2015). The Future of Public Housing. Amherst College, MA.
• Fraser, J. C. (2009). What Kind of Mixed-Income Housing and for What Reasons? University of Memphis.
• Fraser, J. C. (2009). Can Mixed-Income Housing Ameliorate Poverty? Miami University–Ohio, Cincinnati.
• Fraser, J. C. (2006). Mitigating Repetitive Loss Flood Properties. Brown University, Providence.
• Plus 8+ additional invited talks (2005–2017) at North Carolina State, Vanderbilt, Meharry, Kent State, and others.

07Conference Presentations

Selected from 90+ conference presentations delivered between 1993 and 2025 at the AAG, Urban Affairs Association, ASA, SSSP, and Southern Sociological Society, among others.

• Fraser, J. C. (2025). Thriving, Not Just Surviving. Urban Affairs Association, Vancouver.
• Fraser, J. C. (2024). Being Disadvantaged in a Gentrifying Neighborhood. American Criminal Justice Society, San Francisco.
• Fraser, J. C., & Addie, J.-P. (2020). Organizing for a New Social Horizon. AAG Annual Meeting, Denver.
• Fraser, J. C., & Gilligan, J. (2019). The Making of the Smart City: Technology, Planning and Justice. UAA, Los Angeles.
• Fraser, J. C., & Addie, J.-P. (2018). Taking the Neighborhood by Strategy: Social Mix and Settler Colonialism. AAG, New Orleans.
• Fraser, J. C. (2017). The Making of the Precarious City. UAA, Minneapolis.
• Fraser, J. C. (2015). Mixed-Income Housing Ideology and Urban Redevelopment: Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati. AAG, Chicago.
• Fraser, J. C. (2010). Uneven Redevelopment and the (Re)Construction of Citizenship Through Community. AAG, Washington, D.C.
• Fraser, J. C. (2003). Developing a Theory of Community Building. ASA Annual Meeting, Atlanta.
• Earliest presentations date to 1993 (ASA, Miami; Humanist Sociology, New Orleans).

08Selected Media Appearances

• McWhirter, C. (2018). As Nashville Rapidly Expands, Residents Worry the Metropolis Is Growing Too Fast. The Wall Street Journal.
• Allyn, B. (2012). Reversing Years of Neglect on a Hill Above Nashville. The New York Times.
• Siner, E. (2015). In Music City, Rents Keep Going Up and Up. National Public Radio.
• Connolly, K. (2010). 30,000 Queue for Housing Assistance in Atlanta. BBC.
• Knight, M. (2017). Overhauling Public Housing Is Expensive. Nashville Public Radio (WPLN).
• Moskowitz, P. (2015). Nashville's Boom Prices Out Low-Income, Middle-Class Residents. Al Jazeera America.
• Plus coverage in The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, WNYC, and Voice of America (2006–2018).

09Teaching

Urban Studies

Environmental Studies

Social Inequality

Research Methods

10Graduate Advising & Committees

Chaired or served on 20+ doctoral and master's committees at Vanderbilt, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, and Fisk University.

11Professional Service

Editorial & Association Service

Grant Panels & Review

NSF panel member and reviewer; press reviewer for Oxford University Press, University of Chicago Press, and Sage. Manuscript reviewer for 25+ journals including American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Antipode, Environment and Planning A & D, Housing Studies, IJURR, Urban Studies, and Urban Affairs Review.

12University & State Service

Virginia State University

Faculty Senate of Virginia

13Community Engagement

14Affiliations & Development

Professional Associations

Professional Development

• AI Lightning Talks Series Certificate, VSU Academy of Faculty Enrichment (March 2026).
• Quality Matters Pathways Certifications for Online Teaching (2024) — TOL, DYOC, APPQMR.
• Sunbelt Cities Conference, Kinder Institute, Rice University (2017).
• The Cumberland Project, Center for Teaching, Vanderbilt University (2012–2013).
• Summer Workshop on Political-Economic Geography, University of Georgia, sponsored by Antipode (2008).